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strangest objects you have found in a log- anyone have a hardware collection?

Started by mrbrb, September 20, 2014, 07:58:13 PM

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mrbrb

I'd like to do a 'sculpture project' with metal objects that have been found in logs.

My father, who is an arborist tells a story about going out to bid a job, clearing a woodlot that was formerly pasture land. Up in the crotch of a large tree he spotted Scythe (the figure of death, the grim reaper, is usually depicted holding a scythe), handle pointing down, the tree grown around the blade. He figures that a farmer had hung it there while taking a break from laboring, and had simply forgotten it.
A week or so later, while finishing up the same job, a branch that his climb gear was attached to snapped, and he nearly lost his life. (he's lucky to still climb trees at age 65)

Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone has a collection of metal objects that have been extracted from saw logs? Any interesting stories?

Den-Den

I don't have a collection (yet) but do have a section of a 16 gauge double barrel that was in a walnut log; it destroyed a blade.  The same log also had a portion of a screwdriver that got another blade.  I suspect the screw driver had been used to hold up a target as I cut through several bullets also.
You may think that you can or may think you can't; either way, you are right.

yukon cornelius

ok so not a milling object but after cutting down a big hollow oak and as I start cutting it up, pack rats started  pouring out  :o
It seems I am a coarse thread bolt in a world of fine threaded nuts!

Making a living with a manual mill can be done!

logboy

I like Lucas Mills and big wood.  www.logboy.com

Seaman

I hear you LB. I hit a chunk of cement, it had been formed into a crouch, An oldtimer said they patched wounded yard trees to keep rain water out.
Frank
Lucas dedicated slabber
Woodmizer LT40HD
John Deere 5310 W/ FEL
Semper Fi

red oaks lumber

i found/ hit, pliers, ceramic insulator, musket ball, screw driver, chains, railroad spike. piles of nails and bullets.i had a collection but, it got to dipressing so i threw it away. :)
the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

drobertson

Saved a few for a while, then it just got old,  mostly fencing debris.  I did fuzz cut some 9mm bullets that were end to end in a walnut.  I took the tree down and know it was the third log up.  I figured the ole boy was shooting at some squirrels?  Oh yea the old tree stand spikes come about every now and again,
only have a few chain saws I'm not suppose to use, but will at times, one dog Dolly, pretty good dog, just not sure what for yet,  working on getting the gardening back in order, and kinda thinking on maybe a small bbq bizz,  thinking about it,

Jeff

A short forum search will bring up probably a dozen topics on the subject. There has been a lot of things grown into trees!
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

logboy

I saw through quite a few bullets. The metal detector tells me what kind of metal it is so I don't waste time digging them out.   

I like Lucas Mills and big wood.  www.logboy.com

richhiway

Woodmizer LT 40
New Holland 35 hp tractor
Stihl Chainsaws
Ford 340 Backhoe

tcg


Four large nails( 20 d I believe ), two lag screws and an one ceramic insulator all clustered together.
Needless to say so much for that rip chain. I now own a metal detector.

dyates

we found everything imaginable at the veneer mill.  The stainless maple taps and porcelain insulators were the worst.  They sneek right up you with no blue stain.
Daniel

Dave Shepard

I found a possum in a log once, but he moved on before we started sawing.  ;D I used to have a big coffee can full of eye bolts, roofing nails and insulators. The roofing nails are always in a pattern of four, about 6' up the butt log. ;) I call all them them FOIL, Found Object In Log.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

Jeff

Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Brad_bb

There is another thread on here a year or two ago that had pics of a lot of the metal objects found. 
Anything someone can design, I can sure figure out how to fix!
If I say it\\\\\\\'s going to take so long, multiply that by at least 3!

thecfarm

@dyates,welcome to the forum. Sounds like you have been around a sawmill before?
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

dyates

Quote from: thecfarm on September 23, 2014, 05:07:38 AM
@dyates,welcome to the forum. Sounds like you have been around a sawmill before?
I bought logs and ran the yard for a veneer mill for 11 years.  I have now left that job to pursue my own business.  I'm still not sure that was a wise choice but time will tell.
Daniel

kevin19343

The 2 most common objects I find are nails from No Trespassing signs, and barbed wire.

Alligator

We bought a tract of timber off of Ft. Rucker that was by all indication behind a firing range. There were several hundred steel jacket 30.06 rounds in the but cuts. We finally gave up on the but cuts. Metal detectors in the 70s were expensive.
Esterer Sash Gang is a  Money Machine

boscojmb

The strangest thing that I have ever cut in to was a pad lock. No pictures. I didn't even try to cut it up for fire wood. It went straight back to the woods where it came from. My blades are longer and wider than most. This collection of junk  cost me $53.00  ;D
A year later and it still makes me mad :-\
Bullets are a pretty common and don't dull the blade.
Thanks,

John B.

Log-Master LM4

hunz

Was cutting a white pine log yesterday. After the opening cut, and before removing the slab, a ring neck black snake popped out of the side of the log. Let's say the logs have been sitting a while.....the snake was in a pine borer hole. I accidentally cut him in half :'( ;D
Dream as if you'll saw forever; saw as if you'll die today.



2006 Woodmizer LT40D51RA, Husqvarna 372xp, Takeuchi TL140

customsawyer

Two items that had me shake my head was some post hole diggers and part of another saw blade.
Two LT70s, Nyle L200 kiln, 4 head Pinheiro planer, 30" double surface Cantek planer, Lucas dedicated slabber, Slabmizer, and enough rolling stock and chainsaws to keep it all running.
www.thecustomsawyer.com

Kindlinmaker

Not my find but AP news reported today that a WW II hand grenade exploded in a Gmuden, Austria wood stove.  Seems the grenade was complete encased in a piece of firewood.  Glass blew out but the stove absorbed the rest of the explosion.  Certainly trumps the occasional bits of metal and glass I find.
If you think the boards are twisted, wait until you meet the sawyer!

Magicman

Just one old nail today, nothing exciting at all.  ::)  Got corrugated lumber ???
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

terrifictimbersllc

How about a. 1/2" twist drill bit In a pine log at the intersection of two city streets.
DJ Hoover, Terrific Timbers LLC,  Mystic CT Woodmizer Million Board Foot Club member. 2019 LT70 Super Wide 55 Yanmar,  LogRite fetching arch, WM BMS250 sharpener/BMT250 setter.  2001 F350 7.3L PSD 6 spd manual ZF 4x4 Crew Cab Long Bed

Chuck White

The biggest metal I've found in logs has to be telephone company J-Hooks.

They are a piece of cake when compared to sheetrock screws.
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

Nomad

     Like most of us, I've hit a lot of things in logs that shouldn't be there.  But I got another first for me.  Sawing a big Live Oak yesterday with my Lucas and when the help removed a board I saw some color that shouldn't be there.  Turned out I hit a Pepsi bottle, placed in the crotch of that tree at one point in time and the tree grew around it.  Carbide teeth don't like glass.



 



 
Buying a hammer doesn't make you a carpenter
WoodMizer LT50HDD51-WR
Lucas DSM23-19

Solomon

I was cutting a bald cyprus and hit a sterling silver gravey boat.  That was the strangest thing, The log came  from out in the swamp and I chose not to use the metel detector.  The rest of the log was clean and the gravey boat was in the crotch and must have been there a long time,  the crotch grew almost completely around it and you could not see it.
How a gravey boat ended up in the crotch of a tree in the middle of a swamp 40 miles from town baffles me, I could not even begin to imagine it.
Time and Money,  If you have the one, you rarely have the other.

The Path to Salvation is narrow, and the path to damnnation is wide.

Hiway40frank

Dont have it or a collection but I hit what I assume was a metal sign deep in a hard maple burl. Guy turned it on mill aparently and it still has metal in it so ive heard.

whiskers

Quote from: Solomon on April 21, 2016, 12:58:16 PM
I was cutting a bald cyprus and hit a sterling silver gravey boat.  That was the strangest thing, The log came  from out in the swamp and I chose not to use the metel detector.  The rest of the log was clean and the gravey boat was in the crotch and must have been there a long time,  the crotch grew almost completely around it and you could not see it.
How a gravey boat ended up in the crotch of a tree in the middle of a swamp 40 miles from town baffles me, I could not even begin to imagine it.

Household valuables and smokehouse contents were hung high in trees ahead of Sherman's foragers when they passed this way. Not much was left not burned or pillaged.
many irons in the fire.........

Magicman

 

 
The only souvenir that I have is this T fence post that was driven into a log and broken off ~45' from the butt.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Kbeitz

Quote from: Magicman on April 21, 2016, 06:53:25 PM


 
The only souvenir that I have is this T fence post that was driven into a log and broken off ~45' from the butt.

I would like to see the cannon that shot that up in the tree...
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Magicman

No cannon and it was not at an angle.  It was driven straight in.   ;D

The tree was felled across a fence and the post was driven into the tree.  The post was then torn (sheared) off when the log was skidded out.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Beavertooth

A few years back when I was sawing everyday for a guy I looked up and on my log deck was a tree with a whole lock-on treestand still chained to the tree. Like nobody had seen it before it got to my log deck.  ::)
2007 LT70 Remote Station 62hp cat.

Joed

I found this grown over in a white pine this weekend. The picture is not that good, but it is a brown ceramic insulator with small copper wires. You can see on the right side, the blade got about 3/4 of an inch before it came off the wheels. The insulator is about three inches wide.

Valley Big Green Monster

Magicman

Oh the picture is plenty good to see misery.  Looks like your chainsaw also took a nip.   :-\
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

YellowHammer

I was about to make a log out of this tree when I looked and saw this old vine.  It had a funny shape and then I realized it was an old basketball goal that had grown into the tree.  I assume this must have been an old homestead place, but it's all trees and woods now. 



 
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Joed



Sharp eyes MM.  I was wondering how long it would take for someone to pick up on that.  I figured it would be you.

My saw wanted to cut to the left after that contact..
Valley Big Green Monster

customsawyer

This is the first time I have ever seen a Tire Iron in a tree. I have no idea how it got there but y'all are welcome to take a guess.



 
Two LT70s, Nyle L200 kiln, 4 head Pinheiro planer, 30" double surface Cantek planer, Lucas dedicated slabber, Slabmizer, and enough rolling stock and chainsaws to keep it all running.
www.thecustomsawyer.com

Kbeitz

I was at a large tire store. They had a large glass jar of stuff found in tires
that came in for repair. One item was pliers another spark plugs.
It's hard to believe a pair of pliers could get picked up off the road
and get inside a tire.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Southside

Here is the bottom of a cedar log that came from a very old cemetery.  Limestone head stone completely grown into the tree.  It has gotten a bit loose with time, but still not sure how to get it out of there. 



 
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

kelLOGg

Hardware I find in a log is usually not something I want to remember, but this is:



Ant nest in a cedar log - about 16 " wide.
Cook's MP-32, 20HP, 20' (modified w/ power feed, up/down, loader/turner)
DH kiln, CatClaw setter and sharpener, tandem trailer, log arch, tractor, thumb tacks

MartyParsons

 Hello,




  




 

There is always a story.
  LT35HD. Customer brought it to me with a sawing issue. I did the service and did a test cut, everything worked well. Customer went home put a log on the mill. Called me and said the mill is still not working. Hey I make mistakes, so jump in the truck . Sawed some, edged some pieces laying around the mill. Worked ok.  ???

Customer showed me this cant with the blade diving down,  wicked wavy cut.  So we put the cant on. Spruce, Sawed about 4' and bang wavy cut. Backed the blade out put a new blade on and went in to the same cut. and found this.

All good!  Found the issue. Put on another log and a new blade cut like butter.

Marty
"A pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty." -Winston Churchill

kelLOGg

Cook's MP-32, 20HP, 20' (modified w/ power feed, up/down, loader/turner)
DH kiln, CatClaw setter and sharpener, tandem trailer, log arch, tractor, thumb tacks

Kbeitz

Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Southside

Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

PAmizerman

I was sawing two logs a customer brought last Friday. He asked if he could just wait while I sawed them since  he only had two. He said he would like to off bear. ( Can't turn down free labor right?😁😁) I've sawn for this guy in the past and he's aware of my damaged blade fee. Long story shorter I ended up finding something. It was a large eye hook. Once we got it out he handed it to me and jokingly said add it to your collection.
I reached up on the shelf by the mill and pulled down a large container of metal that I have unfortunately found over the years. I'm sure my collection will continue to grow.
Woodmizer lt40 super remote 42hp Kubota diesel. Accuset II
Hydraulics everywhere
Woodmizer edger 26hp cat diesel
Traverse 6035 telehandler
Case 95xt skidloader
http://byrnemillwork.com/
WM bms250 sharpener
WM bmt250 setter
and a lot of back breaking work!!

POSTON WIDEHEAD

I have a Tobacco Collection. Prince Albert in a Can Log.




  

  

 



The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

WLC

Quote from: POSTONLT40HD on December 25, 2017, 09:45:59 PM
I have a Tobacco Collection. Prince Albert in a Can Log.




  

  

 





Can't leave us hanging on this one.  What in the world?????
Woodmizer LT28
Branson 4wd tractor
Stihl chainsaws
Elbow grease.

Jeff

Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30


Darrel

While I was working on the green chain once years ago, we heard a gwad aweful sound and the head rig shut down. They'd hit a cannonball in a big Sitka spruce.
1992 LT40HD

If I don't pick myself up by my own bootstraps, nobody else will.

Kbeitz

Quote from: Southside logger on December 25, 2017, 08:37:01 PM
Kbeitz -

What is the story there?

Sawing walnut and hit a 50 cal. bullet. I din't want to waste the highly
valuable walnut so I carved around the bullet in shape of a bullet.
So now  have a  highly valuable paper weight.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

ToddsPoint

I had one of the first walnut crotch logs I cut milled at an Ag Museum during a "Thresherman's Reunion" celebration.  They had an antique circle saw hooked up to a steam tractor.  They started cutting it and hit something halfway through. It tore up about a third of the carbide insert on the blade.  They were not happy.  They metal detected the log but the metal was in the center of the crotch and they missed it.  It was unidentifiable but looked like a golf ball size chunk of rusty metal.  Amazing a piece of metal ended up in a crotch 15' off the ground.  Gary 
Logosol M7, Stihl 660 and 290, Kubota L3901.

petefrom bearswamp

Arrowhead 14 feet up in a red pine
Must have been squirrel hunting.
Kubota 8540 tractor, FEL bucket and forks, Farmi winch
Kubota 900 RTV
Polaris 570 Sportsman ATV
3 Huskies 1 gas Echo 1 cordless Echo vintage Homelite super xl12
57 acres of woodland

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